Polls Empty in Turkmenistan Elections (ballot boxes carried door to door)

[Rose Siding]

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan -- Polling stations were nearly empty Sunday in elections for Turkmenistan's rubber-stamp parliament, forcing officials to carry ballot boxes door-to-door in this nation ruled by a former Soviet Communist boss who has been declared president-for-life.
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Niyazov reduced Parliament's role in 2003, stripping it of the right to make constitutional changes, and made the People's Council -- a hand-picked assembly of more than 2,000 top officials and elders headed by himself -- the country's highest legislative body. He uses the council to legitimize decisions.
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After casting his ballot, a resident of the capital said he had not followed the campaign of the candidate he voted for. The voter declined to give his name.

"I don't know who to vote for. Does it matter?" said another 70-year-old voter in Ashgabat. "What do they (deputies) do for people?

"I came not to choose anybody, but just to drop ballot papers for my whole family, so they can take a note that my family voted," said the voter who also didn't give his name.
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"We have other things to worry about," said retiree Lyudmila, explaining why she didn't vote. "I didn't even know about any elections," she said. She gave only her first name.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-turkmenistan-election,0,4724952.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines